Friday, May 30, 2008

For a brief period when I started to dye I kept recipes and used recipes or formulas if you'd rather, when I dyed.For two reasons I no longer do this with the exception of my articles in RHM where I am meticulous ( I grew new brain cells for that )

#1 I'm not an accurate person and it was too painstaking to record what I did as I got involved in the act of creating#2 I don't like doing anything twice.

There is a wonderful freeing sensation letting your mind flow to what might be done as you dye. Following your instincts can be very rewarding.

I noted as I held an audience directed dye class I consistently wanted to take the dyeing one step further by adding yet another colour than almost every else there. I would rip the fabric in half and dye one and save the other as a before for comparison.I had a feeling I could enrich the whole thing by one simple addition.

This was because I was willing to take the risk. Next time you dye try just doing one uncomfortable thing, see what happens.

I also only take a set of 14 dyes with me when I travel.I love the constriction of the limited palette to draw from and what I can invent with them I might not have thought of before.

I hope you will try something you haven't though to do before, there are no guarentees in dyeing as you might have noticed using formula books and samples and my articles. Just loosen up and let it go.Know what your dyes look like in your home by dyeing samples of each then just bust it loose.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

This evening I was doing a "down on my knees" hunt for a book I wanted to reference for someone special today but I couldn't get my greasy little hands on it right at the time.

So as I readied the room for my hookers tomorrow I decided to really look. In my library I categorize things according to topic.The book I hunted for is called The Colour Of Nature. But I have one called the Colour In Nature too.The first one is merely photographic. The second actually tells you scientifically how colours and colour effects happen.

I found the IN one but not the OF one.

So as I looked closely at each book in the colour section I realized it was somehat like looking down memory lane.I chanced upon a magazine put out by Amnerican Artists and it was a compilation of articles written about each colour.It was from years ago but I remember announcing it on Padula and how we all scrambled to find it. What struck me was the HUNGER for colour knowledge. And yes I found it ! Now they live side by side.

WE WANT TO KNOW: how to use it more effectively, how to be more expressive with it, how to have it do the work for use we struggle to do with outlines and he like.

Somehow we are always searching for a better understanding of it.

Reading books is great. But like joining a gym you won't get any benefits from the buying until you do some work.Playing with your scraps is a good way to improve your colour power.

Sort them into light , medium , dark..... can you further subdivide each of those piles ?Sort them into piles of bright and dull,Sort them into cool and warm piles.... notice any relativity action? How as you remove the darks, medium step in to be the next best dark ? Or the coolness of any certain colour will change as you remove the warms from the pile? Or when you remove the dulls, some brights will become more dull appearing so because it is all relative ?

If you want a full rich experience with a big range of colours go to paint stores and GET LOADS OF CHIPS.I prefer the bigger square ones. Be sure to pick colours you LOVE , ONES YOU HATE, ONES THAT MIGHT BE USEFUL AND ONES THAT ARE USELESS. You might not have these in your wool stash.

Play with them, Make up colour storys, blend them .... paste them in books. Rip them in half or quarters and create something like the pears from the last post.Make a story board of your favorites. Take a picture you love and find all the colours that are in it in chips. Paste them as a border or stripe beside it in a colour journal.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Well, it has been a few days since I had breathing room to even think about blogging.We can all thank Mary Anne Wise most heartily for taking some pictures during class because goodness knows I didn't even though I had two cameras.

We did a fun and creative exercise in class and soon realized how useful it was for colour studies of things we might want to create.

Here are the parameters if you wanted to try it.

Decide on a subject. We chose pears.

Grab a magazine and rip out pages with colours you want to use in your object.Define your outside edge and use pieces of the pages ripped into small chunks, slivers, squares or whatever shape suits you.

Glue down the shapes to create your three dimensional object.Take a look at it from a distance.... does it need improved ?Just lay on whatever you need to create your ideal.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Yes my friends, here it does.That answered I must say this is a beautiful place we are in.We had bit of a mishap with our booked room, but now are settled into a lovely room and are as happy as bugs in a rug.

Yesterday was the first day of class and I'm puffed up with pride and happiness with my students who were clever and caught on to my ways right away. They also were so interested in finding out what kind of values they had and did serious thinking about their values. After lunch we also dyed.

Today we are going to talk about creativity and design, then we are going to make whatever we like with out new found understanding of what we like.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

We are tired bunnies. We went to bed too late, we got up too early and we ended the day driving thru Chicago. It was pretty downtown. It was rush hour. We got to see all the pretty sites when traffic was at a standstill. Sites of interest:A turquoise seagull- yes it flew and was real. Try to explain that one.A nest of three starlings in the letter a of a Hardees sign.More signs than any two people need to look at, it is almost to the point of visual pollution.Going off to bed, Wanda

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Well, not so lonely as I 'm travelling with my daughter TheaAfter a few narrow misses of nearly forgotten passport and missing night wear and several parodies of the moving out scene in The Jerk , ALL I NEEED IS THIS ___________ and cramming yet one more item into the car...... we hit the road.All was completely uneventful. We had a great lunch when we arrived in Thea's other home and I spent several delicious hours looking every where in Chapters while she did work and other stuff.

It was so nice to spend all that time in the book store because I'm only in one about twice a year and on the way somewhere else and always in a hurry usually.

Here's what I found:Style Statement- this book promises to or rather invites you to make more powerful personal choices, to communicate all you are in all you do.

Paul Klee Painting Music. This book show cases the work of the artist Paul Klee. My friend christine compelled me to look closer at his work. I'm deeply interested in the shapes and layers of it all. COLOUR WORKED WITH COMPLEXITY

Julia Cameron's How to Avoid Making Art This is a tongue in cheek look in cartoons on how we keep ourselves from DOING OUR STUFF.For instance. Take every phone call. Or Complain about not having money for supplies as you gulp down expensive coffees with friends...

Jokes every man should know.

Magazin art

Cloth Paper scissors Studios

Celtic Messages because I like the little pictures on them and they used a repeated palette which I love to demonstrate what is possible with a few colours.

Soul by Tobsha Learner

And an Oprah Magazine.

I also went and visited the mysterious gypsy " the Tattooed Lady" in her glittering tower while in London. Yes, picture that. The views were lovely.No hooking , picture taking or dyeing was done today.